2025:CGHC:18326-DB AFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WA No. 303 of 2023

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Commercial Taxes, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhavan, Nawa Raipur, Atal Nagar, Raipur, District - Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 2 - The Commissioner Of Commercial Tax, Vanijyik Kar Bhavan, Civil Lines, Raipur District - Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 3 - The Additional Commissioner, Commercial Tax, Raipur, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 4 - The Divisional Deputy Commissioner Of Commercial Tax, Raipur, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

... Appellants versus

1 - M/s Ultratech Cement Limited A Company Duly Incorporated Under The Companies Act, 1956 Having Its Registered Office At B Wing, Ahura Centre, 2nd Floor, Mahakali - Caves Road, Andheri-East, Mumbai - 400093 And Office At Ravinagar, Raipur 492001 Chhattisgarh. Through Its Authorized Signatory Of The Company Shri Anil Purohit, S/o. Shri Suraj Prakash Purohit, Aged About 32 Years, Resident Of Hirmi Cement Works (Township), Hirmi, District - Baloda Bazar Bhatapara, (CG) .

... Respondent(s)

For Appellant(s) : Shri Rahul Tamaskar, Govt. Advocate.

For Respondent(s) : Shri Neelabh Dubey with Ms. Smiti Sharma, Advocates.

Digitally signed by KRISHNA KRISHNA KUMAR KUMAR BARVE BARVE Date:

2025.05.02 +0530 Hon'ble Shri Sanjay K. Agrawal &

Hon'ble Shri Deepak Kumar Tiwari, JJ Judgment on Board (23/04/2025)

Sanjay K. Agrawal, J

1. Invoking jurisdiction of this Court under Section 2 (1) of the Chhattisgarh High Court (Appeal to Division Bench) Act, 2006, the appellant herein has preferred this Appeal challenging the legality, validity and correctness of the order passed by the learned Single Judge in WPT No.128/2015 on 7.12.2022 whereby the learned Single Judge has set-aside/quashed the order dated 30.5.2015 passed by the Revisional Authority as also the order dated

22.12.2014 passed by the Assessing Officer.

2. The aforesaid challenge has been made on the following factual backdrop:-

(i) The then South Eastern Railway had floated a scheme known as “Own Your Wagon Scheme” to which the writ petitioner i.e. M/s Ultratech Cement Limited expressed their interest in getting the wagons on lease. Accordingly, necessary proposal was approved. In respect of the said approval of the proposal made by the writ petitioner, two contracts under the said Scheme were entered into between the President of India through the Chief Marketing and Sales Manager, South Eastern Railways and the petitioner company earlier known as M/s Larsen & Turbo Limited. The said contracts were signed in Kolkata in the year 1996. As per the contracts, the wagons proposed to be purchased by the petitioner company were to be manufactured by two different companies approved by the Government of India, Ministry of Railways namely, M/s Texmaco Limited, Kolkata and M/s CIMMCO Birla Limited, Bharatpur (Rajasthan). As per the said contracts, the wagons manufactured on behalf of the petitioner company were to be directly handed over to the Railway authorities. M/s CIMMCO Birla Limited handed over their manufactured wagons to the Station Superintendent, Bharatpur Railway Station (Rajasthan) (Western Railways). As regards the wagons manufactured at M/s Texmaco Limited, the same were to be handed over to the Station Master, Belgharia Railway Station (West Bengal) under the then South Eastern Railways. After the wagons were manufactured and handed over to the Indian Railways at Bharatpur (Rajasthan) and Belgharia (West Bengal), the petitioner company started getting lease rent from the railways and the lessee i.e. the Government of India was to pay @ 16% per annum of the original procurement price on the wagons transferred to the Railways for the first 10 years and then 1% per annum on the original procurement price for the next 10 years. Thereafter on the same day i.e. 14^th March, 1996, an agreement was executed between the South Eastern Railways and the petitioner company. The period of lease was 20 years. The lessee was required to pay @